Murder in Potter's Park
by buttercupandwestley
Summary: While John's out on business, Sherlock and Molly try to find a crime scene in Potter's Park. But once Sherlock gets them hopelessly lost, and it starts to rain, what are the two friends going to do lost in the woods with a murderer? (Molly and Sherlock being BFFs. Pairing-Free.)
1. Chapter 1

"Er-Sherlock? Are you quite sure that this is the right way to go?" Molly jogged to keep up with her friend as he walked briskly through the woods. They were on their way to the scene of a triple murder- (Sherlock's favourite.) John had other business, so Sherlock invited Molly along.

"Positive. George-"

"Greg." Molly corrected him.

"Close enough." He shrugged. "Greg said that the scene was in Potter's Park, near the fountain. "

"Still, shouldn't there have been police cars or something to meet us?" She asked. It was beginning to get dark, and Molly didn't fancy the idea of being lost in the dark in the middle of the woods, especially with a murderer on the loose. "There usually are, you know. And besides, did you even see a fountain?"

"Well… No. I haven't. But if we find the fountain, we find our case. It must be around here somewhere."

"Can't you call up the Inspector and ask for directions?" She sighed. It was beginning to get cold, and the wind was howling through the bare trees.

"No need. We can find our way, I'm sure of it."

"Typical." Molly huffed. She pulled out her own mobile phone, and dialled Lestrade's number. IN response, she got a loud beep. "No signal." She told him. "But you knew that, didn't you?"

"Isolated forest in the mountains with no cell towers in the immediate area. Cloud cover is terrible, and the weather is getting bad. Phone lines are probably down, as well as electricity in some places. Didn't think your call would get through."

"Of course." They walked for a while, with Sherlock leading the way, and making no progress whatsoever. Molly wasn't entirely convinced that he knew where he was going, but found it better not to question him for the time being. Suddenly, their journey was interrupted by a large clap of thunder, and the sky was briefly illuminated by a bolt of lightning that seemed to engulf the clouds. The light didn't last long, as all of the park lights soon went dark.

"Molly? Where are you?" She thought she heard a hint of panic in his voice, but brushed it off.

"Over here!" She eventually bumped into Sherlock, and used her phone to light the trail, taking the lead. "At least it can't get much worse." Molly sighed. As if on cue, the woods immediately filled with the sound of heavy rain.

"Oh for god's sake!"

(A/N: This is going to be pairing free. You can take it as Sherlolly, but I basically just wrote it as Molly and Sherlock being BFFs. Let me know if you want me to continue it. Will they find their way? Will they find Lestrade? Will they find the murderer?)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Just clarifying, this is pre-Reichenbach, since I'm not quite caught up in the new season yet.)

"Did you get phone signal yet?"

"No."

"Are the lights back on yet?"

"No."

"Is it still raining?"

"Yes, can't you hear it?"

"No. Too busy for that. I've got to think." Molly wasn't sure what there was for him to think about. The situation seemed quite clear to her. They were lost in the woods, it was a regular hurricane out there, the power was out, and she was crammed inside a hollow tree with Sherlock Holmes.

"You'd think Greg would be out looking for us. Surely he expected us at the scene an hour ago." Molly thought out loud. Anything to start a conversation really, the silence was beginning to unnerve her.

"Do you really think they're all still out in the rain? They've probably taken everything away, and the evidence has been washed away. The body is probably on its way back to the morgue by now." He said quickly.

"Well, I doubt there'll be an autopsy anytime soon, since their best detective and their ME are both stuck inside a tree in the rain at the moment."

"They have other medical examiners, Molly." At her look of disapproval, he quickly added, "But you're the best, obviously." She smiled. She liked it when he was genuine. It showed off that even Sherlock could be human sometimes, and Molly knew it better than anyone. The two had become close friends in the past few months. Of course, Molly had given up on any hope of a romantic relationship, but she treasured their friendship, as strained as it may appear to others.

"So, great detective. Have you deduced anything about a way out of here? What does that mind palace of yours have to say on the matter of being lost? You don't happen to have a mind GPS device hidden there somewhere do you?" She poked his head affectionately. If anyone but Molly had done that, they may have incurred the Holmes' wrath. (also known as subtle insults and passive-aggressiveness.) Instead, he only sighed.

"Molly, please. It doesn't work like that. I don't store maps in my head, they're not good for anything. I can't _use_ them."

"I don't know about you, but I could definitely make use of a map right now." She thought for a moment before replying. "So is that the reason for the Solar System thing that John told me about?" He grumbled a bit, but ignored her, beginning to formulate a plan.

"If I hold one end of my coat, and you hold the other, we may be able to climb up this tree working together, and using my upper body strength-"

"Sherlock." Molly interrupted.

"-Not now, Molly. I'm trying to plan our way out. Where was I? After we make it to the top, we can survey the area, and locate the best route out, while descending from the tree using-"

"Sherlock." Molly persisted.

"What? What is so important?" He growled. Unimpressed, she pressed on.

"It's stopped raining." She said, climbing out of the tree. Molly stretched her arms into the air. God, it felt good to not be cramped next to him. She began to walk opposite of the way they had come, and Sherlock jogged to keep up with her brisk pace.

"Molly, where are you going? I had a plan, and we would have been-"

"Halfway up a tree, and one of us would have fallen and gotten hurt." She chastised. "Now that the stars are out, I can see the constellations. Do you see that one?" She pointed, and he strained his eyes to see the shape he had pointed out. "The star on the end there always points North. The entrance to the park was in the North, as I observed on the park map when we came in. We should go that way." She said, smirking. Sherlock was silent, his feathers had been sufficiently ruffled. They walked in silence for a while, before he finally spoke.

"That was good." He admitted.

"Thank you." She smiled. A rare Sherlock Holmes compliment was only given to those he respected, so Molly considered herself lucky. "Wait until I tell John that my knowledge of the solar system saved us. He'll be so proud." She teased.

"I would have figured something out." He sniffed.

"And by then, I would have already been out for an hour." Sherlock was a genius, but Molly was one of the few people that could on occasion, outsmart him. They followed the path some more, occasionally stopping to take directions from Molly's star. Something seemed off to her, however. Out of the corner of her eye, she felt like she saw a shadow following them, but whenever she turned her head, it was gone. _'It's only paranoia.'_ She decided. After considering mentioning it to Sherlock, Molly soon scrapped that idea, because she didn't want to seem foolish. Just as she finally decided that it might be good to say something, she saw the shape pop out ahead of them.  
"Sherlock, look!" She pointed.

"Stay back!" Sherlock barked, putting a protective arm in front of his friend. It was then that Molly remembered why they were in the woods in the first place.

There was a murderer loose in Potter's Park.


End file.
